Crustal structure beneath Aso Caldera,Southwest Japan,as derived from receiver function analysis

Aso Volcano experienced a huge pyroclastic eruption 90 thousand years ago, and formed a large caldera (18 km × 25 km). In order to test the hypothesis of a magma body in the mid and lower crust that has been suggested geophysically and geochemically, we investigated seismic velocity discontinuities and velocity structure beneath Aso Caldera using receiver functions and a genetic algorithm inversion. We confirm the existence of the Moho at depths between 30 km and 35 km and a large velocity anomaly should exist in the deep portion of the crust beneath Aso Caldera, from imaging of receiver functions observed only at stations outside the caldera. As a result of a more detailed examination with GA inversion, a low velocity layer is detected at depths between 10 km and 24 km beneath the western part of the caldera. S-wave velocity of the layer is estimated to be 2.0–2.4 km/s. We estimate that the low velocity layer contains at most 15% melt or 30% aqueous fluid. The layer exists near the Conrad and at the same depths as the swarm of the low frequency earthquakes and a compressional and dilatational deformation source which are expected to be caused by fluid movement beneath the middle-eastern part of the caldera. Fluid contained in the layer might be related with huge pyroclastic eruptions of Aso Volcano.     

GeoFEM Kinematic Earthquake Cycle Simulation in Southwest Japan

— We construct a viscoelastic FEM model with 3-D configuration of the subducting Philippine Sea plate in Southwest Japan to simulate recent 300-year kinematic earthquake cycles along the Nankai-Suruga-Sagami trough, based on the kinematic earthquake cycle model. This 300-year simulation contains a series of three great interplate earthquakes. The inclusion of viscoelasticity produces characteristic velocity field during earthquake cycles regardless of the assumed constant plate coupling throughout the interseismic period. Just after the occurrence of interplate earthquakes, the viscoelastic relaxation creates the seaward motion in the inland region. In the middle period, the seaward motion gradually decreases, and the resultant velocity field is similar to the elastic one. Later, just before the next interplate earthquake, displacements due to the interplate coupling in the viscoelastic material are distributed more broadly in the forearc region than in the purely elastic one, since the viscoelastic relaxation due to the previous earthquake mostly disappears. The effects of such interplate earthquake cycles on five major inland faults in southwest Japan, where large intraplate earthquakes occurred during this period, are quantitatively evaluated using the Coulomb failure function (CFF). The calculated change in CFF successfully predicts the occurrence of the 1995 Kobe earthquake (M～7). The occurrence of other inland earthquakes, however, cannot be explained by the calculated changes in CFF, and especially the 1891 Nobi earthquake (M～8), the largest inland earthquake in Japan, which occurred at the time close to the local minimum of CFF. This implies that further improvements are necessary for our FEM modeling, such as the modeling of steady east-west compressive force and stress interactions between the inland faults.     

Astronomy in Japan

The research activity in Japanese astronomy is described, taking into account the social and historical background. A trend in the last two decades is shown by the numbers of papers in 13 branches of astronomy. Major research facilities and international collaboration programs are summerized. Future programs under consideration are briefly discussed.Paper presented at the Lembang-Bamberg IAU Colloquium No. 80 on Double Stars: Physical Properties and Generic Relations, held at Bandung, Indonesia, 3–7 June, 1983.     

Simulation of liquefaction of unsaturated soil using critical state soil model

Several researchers have reported that the mean effective stress of unsaturated soils having a relatively high degree of saturation gradually decreases under fully undrained cyclic loading conditions, and such soils can be finally liquefied like saturated soils. This paper describes a series of simulations of fully undrained cyclic loading on unsaturated soils, conducted using an elastoplastic model for unsaturated soils. This model is a critical state soil model formulated using effective stress tensor for unsaturated soils, which incorporates the following concepts: (a) the volumetric movement of the state boundary surface containing the critical state line owing to the variation in the degree of saturation; (b) the soil water characteristic curve considering the effects of specific volume and hydraulic hysteresis; and (c) the subloading surface concept for considering the effect of density. Void air is assumed to be an ideal gas obeying Boyle's law. The proposed model is validated through comparisons with past results. The simulation results show that the proposed model properly describes the fully undrained cyclic behavior of unsaturated soils, such as liquefaction, compression, and an increase in the degree of saturation. Finally, the effects of the degree of saturation, void ratio, and confining pressure on the cyclic strength of unsaturated soils are described by the simulation results. The liquefaction resistance of unsaturated soils increases as the degree of saturation and the void ratio decrease, and as the confining pressure increases. Furthermore, the degree of saturation has a greater effect on the liquefaction resistance than the confining pressure and void ratio. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Soil pore characteristics of evergreen and deciduous forests of the tropical monsoon region in Cambodia

Both evergreen and deciduous forests (Efs and Dfs) are widely distributed under similar climatic conditions in tropical monsoon regions. To clarify the hydraulic properties of the soil matrix in different forest types and their effects on soil water storage capacity, the soil pore characteristics (SPC) were investigated in Ef and Df stands in three provinces in Cambodia. Soils in the Ef group were characterized in common by large amounts of coarse pores with moderate pore size distribution and the absence of an extremely low K_s at shallow depths, compared to Df group soils. The mean available water capacity of the soil matrix (AWC_sm) for all horizons of the Ef and Df group soils was 0·107 and 0·146 m³ m^?3, respectively. The mean coarse pore volume of the soil matrix (CPV_sm) in the Ef and Df groups was 0·231 and 0·115 m³ m^?3, respectively. A water flow simulation using a lognormal distribution model for rain events in the early dry season indicated that variation in SPC resulted in a larger increase in available soil water in Ef soils than in Df soils. Further study on deeper soil layers in Ef and each soil type in Df is necessary for the deeper understanding of the environmental conditions and the hydrological modelling of each forest ecosystem. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Neoproterozoic SHRIMP U–Pb zircon ages of silica-rich Dokhan Volcanics in the North Eastern Desert,Egypt

Chronology of Neoproterozoic volcanosedimentary successions remains controversial for many regions of the Arabian–Nubian Shield, including the Dokhan Volcanics of NE Egypt. New U–Pb zircon SHRIMP ages have been obtained for 10 silica-rich ignimbrites and two subvolcanic dacitic bodies, mapped as Dokhan Volcanics, from the North Eastern Desert of Egypt. Crystallization ages range between 592 ± 5 and 630 ± 6 Ma (Early Ediacaran). Apparently, the late consolidation of the Arabian–Nubian Shield was accompanied by the evolution of isolated volcanic centres and basin systems which developed during a period of approx. 40 Ma, independently in space and time and probably under changing tectonic regimes. The obtained age data together with other previously published reliable ages for Dokhan Volcanics suggest two main pulses of volcanic activity: 630–623 Ma and 618–592 Ma. Five samples contain inherited zircons, with ages of 669, 715–746, 847 and 1530 Ma, supporting models that North Eastern Desert crust is mainly juvenile Neoproterozoic crust.     

Reproducibility of spatial and temporal distribution of aseismic slips in Hyuga-nada of southwest Japan

The Hyuga-nada region of southwest Japan, which is located off the east coast of Kyushu Island, may have the potential to generate great interplate earthquakes along the Nankai trough in the future. In this area, thrust earthquakes of M = 6.7–7.2 have occurred with recurrence intervals of approximately 30 years. In association with these earthquakes, possible local heterogeneities of plate coupling may be expected within 100 km from the coast in the Hyuga-nada region. We investigate numerical experiments to determine the spatial and temporal resolution of slip on the plate interface beneath the Hyuga-nada offshore region. For this purpose, we calculated synthetic displacement data from the result of numerical simulation conducted for the afterslip following an M_w 6.8 earthquake, for existing global positioning system stations on land and planned ocean floor seismic network stations. The spatial and temporal distribution of fault slip is then estimated using a Kalman filter-based inversion. The slip distribution estimated by using ocean floor stations demonstrates that the heterogeneity of plate coupling is resolved approximately within 50 km from the coastal area. This heterogeneity corresponds to the coseismic area of an M_w 6.8 earthquake with a radius of 10 km. Our study quantitatively evaluates the spatial resolution of aseismic slip in the Hyuga-nada region. Analysis based on continuous ocean floor data is useful for resolving the spatial variations of heterogeneities in plate couplings.     

High-frequency polarity swings during the Gauss-Matuyama reversal from Baoji loess sediment

Paleomagnetic records of the Gauss-Matuyama reversal were obtained from two loess sections at Baoji on the Chinese Loess Plateau. Stepwise thermal demagnetization shows two obvious magnetization components. A low-temperature component isolated between 100 and 200–250°C is close to the present geomagnetic field direction, and a high-temperature component isolated above 200–250°C reveals clearly normal, reversed, and transitional polarities. Magnetostratigraphic results of both sections indicated that the Gauss-Matuyama reversal consists of a high-frequency polarity fluctuation zone, but the characteristic remanent magnetization directions during the reversal are clearly inconsistent. Rock magnetic experiments demonstrated that for all the specimens with normal, reversed, and transitional polarities magnetite and hematite are the main magnetic carriers. Anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility indicates that the studied loess sediments have a primary sedimentary fabric. Based on virtual geomagnetic pole latitudes, the Gauss-Matuyama reversal records in the two sections are accompanied by 14 short-lived geomagnetic episodes (15 rapid polarity swings) and 12 short-lived geomagnetic episodes (13 rapid polarity swings), respectively. Our new records, together with previous ones from lacustrine, marine, and aeolian deposits, suggest that high-frequency polarity swings coexist with the Gauss-Matuyama reversal, and that the Gauss-Matuyama reversal may have taken more than 11 kyr to complete. However, we need more detailed analyses of sections across polarity swings during reversals as well as more high-resolution reversal records to understand geomagnetic behavior and inconsistent characteristic remanent magnetization directions during polarity reversals.     

X‐Ray observations of the Galactic Centre with Suzaku

We report on the diffuse X‐ray emission from the Galactic Centre (GCDX) observed with the X‐ray Imaging Spectrometer (XIS) on board the Suzaku satellite. The highly accurate energy calibration and extremely low background of the XIS provide many new facts on the GCDX. These are (1) the origin of the lines at 6.7 and 7.0 keV is collisional excitation in a hot plasma, (2) the discovery of new SNR and super‐bubble candidates, (3) most of the 6.4 keV line is X‐ray fluorescence, and (4) time variability of the 6.4 keV line is found from the Sgr B2 complex. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

APPLICATION OF MEM SPECTRAL ESTIMATION TO MU RADAR OBSERVATION

Preliminary results of the wind velocity estimation using the Maximum Entropy Method (MEM) to MUradar observation data sets are presented. The comparison of the results from the periodogram method and theMEM shows that the MEM estimation is reliable, and has higher accuracy, resolution and detectability than theestimation from periodogram method. The high accuracy power spectrum obtained by the MEM is veryuseful to studying the atmospheric turbulence structure. However. the MEM needs the longer computingtime for obtaining the high accuracy spectrum. Particularly, the estimation of MEM will bring serious devia-tion at lower signal-to-noise ratio.